Vote for Vincent!
Hello everyone! My name is Vincent, and right now I am going to go through my gameplay from the beginning. At the very beginning of the game, I wasn't a target simply because I was active. I was able to make my way into an alliance of five consisting of myself, Matt, Kief, Bronson, and Edvin. I fully intended to stick to my alliance for as long as possible. When we got into our tribes, I tried my hardest to make sure that I was good with everyone. I believe that not one person wanted to vote me out pre-merge, mainly because I tried to talk to everyone. Final 12 We had decided on the vote being Jacob due to his inactivity. Bronson was just as inactive and I'm sure people were thinking of voting him, but I was able to use my connections to save him and preserve our alliance. Jacob was saved due to an... incident, which also harmed our alliance. Final 10 The Husain vote was Jake's idea. Husain had had the lowest score in the challenge, and he wanted to preserve the tribe unity. Again, I worked here to ensure that Bronson wouldn't be targeted, and it was successful. Merge I believe my game truly shone here. I knew where every single vote was going every time, save for the tribal where I wasn't involved. I wasn't voted for once until the final 4. I was able to keep everyone trusting me much longer than I thought would have been possible. Final 9 I had fully intended on sticking with my alliance, at least for the first few votes. However, it seemed that Matt and Kief had turned against each other at the Basty vote, and that this simply wasn't going to be an option anymore. So basically there were two sides at this point: -Matt, Sammy, Gabriel -Kief, Basty Jake wasn't affiliated with either side yet, and Bronson, Jacob, and I were in the middle. Jake came to me and said he was worried about a potential Pagonging, but I told him that since Matt and Kief weren't together, that wasn't going to happen. Jake eventually decided to work with Kief and Basty. I would say that I brought this alliance together, using my connections with Kief and Jake to bring together a group for Matt to go against. With these two alliances against each other, I would never be a target. I knew that if I positioned myself as a swing vote, then both sides would end up wanting to keep me for them. Why would you vote out someone who could vote with you when you could vote someone who is definitely against you? I was unaware that Matt had the idol, although he hinted at it to me. I voted for Kief at this tribal council, as did Matt and Sammy. Basty, Jake, and Jacob voted Matt. I played a major role in every vote that was cast here. Interesting fact: Jacob was technically aligned with me and Bronson, but he wanted to vote Matt to mix things up. I knew that this was going to tank his game, but I told him I was OK with that because I saw an opportunity. I could tell both sides that I voted with them, and that Jacob voted against them. Only Bronson knew the truth for sure. Final 8 I used my knowledge of both sides to maximize my auction gain. I believe that only Jake and myself attained multiple auction prizes. I was definitely the person who benefited the most from the auction, although I do concede that it was luck. I was nervous about getting found out, so I tried to get everyone against Jacob. This would prolong my facade for an extra round. I didn't try too hard, but eventually both sides came around to the idea. I did not use the extra vote because I thought the votes were going to go another way, it was just the only round I could use it for. Final 7 This was definitely the weakest moment of my game. I had leaked Matt secrets from the other alliance so that they would continue to go against each other, but I did not anticipate that Matt would go and tell Basty. Basty came to me and was furious that I had been playing both sides. I was able to convince him that Matt was lying (either that or he decided that as untrustworthy as I may have been, he still needed me as an ally. Both would be good gameplay so I don't really care that much). I used my exile pass just because I was a little busy that round, and I anticipated heavy strategy. I firmly believe that Bronson's votes would have fallen onto me had I been there for that tribal. Also, touchy subjects was fun here, where I greatly overestimated how awesome my social game was. :p Final 6 At this stage, there were three duos. Myself & Bronson, Sammy & Matt, and Basty & Jake. Bronson and I decided that Matt was the biggest threat left, and that we should vote him out, with Jake ideally going next. When Matt won immunity, we didn't go for Jake because that left open the possibility for Matt going on an immunity run. Had we known what was happening next, we would have definitely gone for Jake. Instead, we went for Matt's right hand man. After what had happened earlier, Basty probably thought (I never really checked with him about it) that I was going against him. He played his idol on Jake, even though we had voted with him. Like with Matt, I was unaware that he had an idol. Final 5-3 Since Jake still had an ally in Basty, he was our (Bronson and I) top target. At this point, we had moved to the endgame, where there were no idols to mess up our plans. As such, I told both Jake and Matt that I was voting them out. I assumed that Basty and Bronson would have appreciated the suspense, otherwise I would have told Bronson too. :P Final 4 was a rare challenge loss for Matt, and we took advantage of that. I had nothing to do with the loss unfortunately, but kudos to Bronson for finally knocking him down. Final 3 was an important round for me, because I knew that Basty and Bronson were taking each other. I made sure that I won by asking my friend Matthias to help me make a flag. I won (by default but still), and I had secured my spot in the final two. I took Basty over Bronson for two main reasons. One of the reasons is that Bronson actually played a much better strategic game than me. Most of the decisions we made were actually his idea, and I knew he could hold that over me. The other reason is that I believe while they both had their flaws, Basty's would be easier to work against. Basty's main flaw was, in my opinion, that he didn't know what he did right in the game. Basty knows that the main issue facing his game was that he was perceived as Jake's puppet, but I don't know if he knows how to make that work for him and not against him. Bronson's main flaw was inactivity, and that was much easier to work with for him, and I didn't want to go against that. I know I wrote a lot, so I'll summarize it here. I: -knew what was happening at almost every vote -was the last person to receive votes -was able to form a game climate in which I could get past without being targeted. I believe that due to these three main points, I deserve the win. One last thing: I would like to thank Tal and the eleven amazing players (Including Jake W and Enzo) for an incredibly fun journey. I look forward to answering your questions! :)